1179/1180
Frightened by the reappearance of Barnabas, Lamar decides not to testify against Quentin. Synopsis Teaser : The great house at Collinwood in the year 1840, a time when the evil planning of one man threatens to destroy the Collins family forever. Quentin Collins is on trial as a warlock. And among those anxious to see him found guilty is Lamar Trask. On this day, Trask has been called to testify, and his testimony has proved damaging. Quentin's first attorney, Desmond Collins, has been disqualified and jailed on the charge of witchcraft. And it now appears that Quentin must act in his own defense. But as the prosecution ends its examination of Trask, Quentin has a surprise in store for the court. To everyone's shock, Barnabas shows up in the court house and announces he will now represent Quentin. Act I Charles objects to Barnabas being involved in the trial, but the judges overrule him. As Barnabas prepares his cross-examination, Lamar has a panic attack and asks to be excused from the court house. The judge allows a recess until the following morning. Later, Barnabas visits Quentin in his cell. Barnabas admits Lamar was holding him prisoner and Valerie and Julia freed him. Quentin wonders why he wouldn't turn Lamar over to the authorities, but Barnabas says he has other plans. Act II Barnabas tells Quentin he only wants to concentrate on the trial rather than dealing with Lamar at the moment, and heads off to prepare for the following morning. That night, Barnabas visits Lamar at his chapel. Lamar is convinced that Quentin helped Barnabas escape. After taunting him for a while, Barnabas calmly tells Lamar he is going to kill him, but he won't tell him when he is going to do it. Lamar meets Charles early the next morning at the court house and tells him that he will not testify. Visibly frightened, Lamar says he has his reasons, much to Charles' disgust. Charles warns him that a lack of a testimony will likely swing the trial's momentum back into Quentin's favor. Act III Meanwhile at Rose Cottage, Barnabas visits Flora and asks many questions about the Head of Judah Zachary. Flora is greatly concerned about Desmond's safety, and sadly admits Desmond brought it to Collinsport as a gift for Quentin. Barnabas asks who at Collinwood knows about the Head, before admitting to Flora he believes that Gerard is somehow involved in everything. Flora mentions that Gerard has been spending a lot of time with Lamar lately, and explains the night when they discovered Lamar's father's remains in the basement of the Old House. A few hours later, the trial resumes and Barnabas begins to cross-examine Lamar, who is still uneasy about being near Barnabas. Under Barnabas' questioning, Lamar agrees that participating in séances falls under the category of the occult, and Barnabas asks if he held a séance to contact his father. Act IV Charles attempts to have the question thrown out, but is overruled and Lamar confesses he took part in a séance to contact his father, who warned him of danger at Collinwood. Following Lamar's admission, the judges throw out a large portion of Lamar's previous testimony, including references to séances and the occult. Charles then receives permission to question Lamar regarding other ways Quentin has attempted to communicate with the dead. Lamar, still shaking, recalls Quentin writing letters to leave in a tree outside of Collinwood for a dead woman named Joanna Mills. Charles hands over the letter and Joanna's death certificate to the judges and asks for the trial to be ended immediately. After the judges consider this notion, a woman walks into the courtroom and identifies herself as Joanna Mills. Memorable quotes Dramatis personae * Joan Bennett as Flora Collins * Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins * David Selby as Quentin Collins (1840) * Jerry Lacy as Lamar Trask * Humbert Allen Astredo as Charles Dawson * Lee Beery as Joanna Mills * John Beal as Judge Vail * Paul Kirk Giles as 2nd Judge * Tom Markus as 3rd Judge Background information and notes Production * This episode was recorded out of broadcast sequence. The previous episode to be recorded was 1174/1175. * First appearance of actress Lee Beery and the character Joanna Mills. * Final time an episode is narrated by Joan Bennett despite remaining with the series until its final episode. * An expected pre-emption for New Year's Day programming occurred here, which was shown instead of Dark Shadows. This episode is "double numbered" with the next one 1180 (1179/1180) in order to keep the production numbers balanced with the calendar, i.e. Friday episodes ending in a 5 or 0. * Closing credits scene: Charles Dawson's house. Story * TIMELINE: Quentin's trial resumes at 10am tomorrow. 10:45pm: Barnabas visits Lamar. Day 436 begins, and will end in 1183. It was yesterday when Lamar testified. Bloopers and continuity errors * Toward the end of Act I when Barnabas visits Quentin in his cell, Jonathan Frid flubs Trask's name and the entire line, saying, "Lamar Task had me under ... under prison-en. He, uh ... I didn't think I was going to get out." External Links The Dark Shadows Daybook - Episode 1179/1180Category:Dark Shadows episodes